Beer of the Weekend #229: American Wheat
I am craving a brewski to celebrate hump day. Though I drank an Iowa Pale Ale at Short’s for dinner, I picked up a sixer of another indigenous Iowa brew earlier that I will not only be drinking for my health but also for research for the LV project I am working on.
This hump day beer is American Wheat, brewed by the Madhouse Brewing Company of Newton, Iowa.
Serving type: Six 12-ounce bottles. I thought Madhouse offered it in 22-ounce bombers, but was assured by Joe at John’s that they did not. It is a particular bummer since I planned to introduce my newest weizen glass. There is no freshness date or even batch code on the bottle.
Appearance: Straight pour into a pint glass. At first the color was a slightly hazy, lemonade-like straw. After loosening the slight sedimentation at the bottom of the bottle and pouring it in, the beer slowly clouded but remained the lemonade-like color. Two fingers of thick white head dissipated quickly for a wheat beer to leave a spotted lacing and thick ring around the edge.
Smell: Smells like a watered down wit. There is a light aroma of wheat and yeast, but a lemon citrus aroma dominates. There is also a hint of spice, but I cannot decide if it is coriander or pepper.
Taste: There is a minor wheat presence, which is good, but there is a lot more barley in it. Light lemon citrus is complimented by a little spice and fruit, which might be overripe apple.
Drinkability: It is nothing spectacular, but it is drinkable. It would, though, never be my first choice on a hot summer day.
Fun facts about American Wheat Beer:
-Style: It is classified on BA as an American Pale Wheat Ale:
-Price: $7.95/sixer at John’s Grocery in Iowa City.
-Serving temperature: 45-50ºF.
-Alcohol content: 4.5 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: The beer’s Madhouse webpage offers this suggestion: “summer salads, grilled fish, sushi, pizza.”
The Quiet Man’s grade: C.
This hump day beer is American Wheat, brewed by the Madhouse Brewing Company of Newton, Iowa.
Serving type: Six 12-ounce bottles. I thought Madhouse offered it in 22-ounce bombers, but was assured by Joe at John’s that they did not. It is a particular bummer since I planned to introduce my newest weizen glass. There is no freshness date or even batch code on the bottle.
Appearance: Straight pour into a pint glass. At first the color was a slightly hazy, lemonade-like straw. After loosening the slight sedimentation at the bottom of the bottle and pouring it in, the beer slowly clouded but remained the lemonade-like color. Two fingers of thick white head dissipated quickly for a wheat beer to leave a spotted lacing and thick ring around the edge.
Smell: Smells like a watered down wit. There is a light aroma of wheat and yeast, but a lemon citrus aroma dominates. There is also a hint of spice, but I cannot decide if it is coriander or pepper.
Taste: There is a minor wheat presence, which is good, but there is a lot more barley in it. Light lemon citrus is complimented by a little spice and fruit, which might be overripe apple.
Drinkability: It is nothing spectacular, but it is drinkable. It would, though, never be my first choice on a hot summer day.
Fun facts about American Wheat Beer:
-Style: It is classified on BA as an American Pale Wheat Ale:
An Americanized version of a Hefe Weizen, these beers range within the pale to golden range in color. Reminiscent of a Hefe Weizen in appearance, unless filtered. Long-lasting head with a light to medium body, higher carbonation is proper. German Weizen flavors and aromas of banana esters and clove-like phenols will not be found. Most use a substantial percentage of wheat malt. Hop character will be low to high but most are moderate in bitterness. There may be some fruitiness from ale fermentation though most examples use of a fairly neutral ale yeast, resulting in a clean fermentation with little to no diacetyl.
Often served with a lemon wedge (popularized by Americans), to either cut the wheat or yeast edge, which many either find to be a flavorful snap...or an insult and something that damages the beer's taste and head retention.
-Price: $7.95/sixer at John’s Grocery in Iowa City.
-Serving temperature: 45-50ºF.
-Alcohol content: 4.5 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: The beer’s Madhouse webpage offers this suggestion: “summer salads, grilled fish, sushi, pizza.”
The Quiet Man’s grade: C.
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